New Blog...New Title

Hi:
I haven't been posting for awhile because we've been developing our fantastic new website...
"Under His Wings/David Koblish Music Ministry.
Through this website I now have my own new blog called "Resting in His Nest".
You can reach me at www.hisnest.org

Thank you for following me on this blog. Please check out my new site.
I won't be posting here anymore.
Blessings,
Linda

bath...p.j's...pincurls and a dilly bar

Allie and Emily

Our daughter, son and three of our grandchildren came to visit us for the Memorial Day weekend. Our little grandson was already sleeping, but my two little granddaughters, Emily and Allie were still getting ready for bed. They came running up to me fresh from their baths, all clean, powdered and dressed in their cute little summer pajamas. I threw a warm quilt around them and we all cozied up together on the couch. As I sat there hugging my little darlings...I was flooded with memories of my own childhood. I particularly remember how I loved the feeling, on a warm summer night, after my mother had just given me my bath. She would sprinkle baby powder all over me (I still love that smell!) and dress me in my soft, summer pajamas. Then my mother sat me down in front of her and she would wrap the locks of my hair around and around her finger and fasten the curls that she made with two bobby pins crisscrossing each other. By the time she was finished, my head was full of pincurls and bobby pins. We didn't have hairdryers back then, so I had to sleep on those hard pins all night. But the best part of the night came after the ritual of baths, pajama's and pincurls was finished. Dad would load us up, pajamas and all, in the back of the car (no seatbelts or carseats to hinder us!) and we would ride, bouncing with excitement, all the way down University Avenue to the DAIRY QUEEN!

It was 1955. I remember the date so well because it was when the Dilly Bar was first introduced and they were promoting the Dilly Bars by stamping the handle with special messages. I loved this special treat. No one could tell what the stamp on the handle said until all the ice cream was licked off. Sometimes it just said, "Dilly Bar"...but every once in awhile it would say, "free Dilly bar". Then the next time you came to the Dairy Queen, and you gave them the stick, you could get a free Dilly Bar.

That was great... but there was one prize I wanted even more than the "free Dilly bar"! It was to me the prize of all prizes. This prize sat on display in the window of the Dairy Queen among the other prizes. It was the one, special prize that I had my eye on! It was a beautiful, storybook, Dairy Queen Doll and she laid in her beautiful box, smiling at me every time I passed the store. I looked at that box longingly whenever we went there for a treat. She had auburn hair and she was dressed in a maroon, satin gown with a matching cape trimmed in fluffy white fur. She had on a matching maroon, satin bonnet that was also trimmed in the soft, white fur. Oh.....she was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. I wished for that doll every time I saw her. I dreamed about that doll. But...I never, ever thought I would be lucky enough to win her. You had to have the words, "you won", stamped on your Dilly bar stick to win that doll and I didn't think that I would ever stand a chance.

Then one night it happened. Dad went to the counter and ordered our dilly bars...he passed them out...I took mine and began to lick..lick..lick. I was anxious to see what my stick would say but I was scared too. Finally my ice cream was almost gone and I couldn't believe it! "Mommy!" I screamed. "Look at my stick! Did I win something?" I couldn't read very well but I knew that my stick was different this time. "Well, I guess you did win something!" my mother exclaimed. And there it was..."you won" written on my stick. I did it! I won! It was the first time I'd ever won anything! I proudly walked up to the counter in my pajamas and pincurls. My hand was shaking and probably very sticky too as I gave the man my stick. "I'd like the storybook Dairy Queen doll please, the one in the beautiful box, dressed in the maroon satin gown, trimmed with white fur." The man smiled and called out to everyone around him, "looks like we have a winner! Congratulations little girl!" He handed me the box with my beautiful doll smiling up at me. I've never forgotten that moment! I think it's why I love being all clean and powdered and in my pajama's on a warm spring evening! I think it's why on warm summer nights I have the sudden urge to jump into the backseat of our car and ride to the Dairy Queen.

And it's why... when I'm lonely and I need to relive a beautiful memory, I can reach up to the shelf in my closet, blow the dust off my old storage box, open it up and gaze at that same little Dairy Queen storybook doll. She still smiles at me, but her auburn hair needs restoring now and she's dressed in a faded satin gown, torn a bit from age and trimmed with matted fur. Still... she's a treasure to me and she reminds me of a time when I was so little, carefree and loved.

New Link

Once upon a time I was a manufacturer's rep for several gift lines. Actually it was just a few years ago.

One of the girls I worked with, Carrie, had an amazing eye and talent for display work. We had so much fun bouncing ideas off each other. We've traveled all over from New York to Dallas and places in between for the companies that we worked for. It was a wonderful time looking at all the new gift lines, trends and ideas at the different gift shows, stationary shows and craft conventions. It's a time that I truly miss!

After repping, Carrie decided to branch off and open up her own staging company... "Ambience at Home"...and she contacted me to paint several paintings for the various houses that her and her husband stage. I've completed over 25 large-scale acrylic paintings for her so far and still have a few more to go.

I just added her link. Check it out! She does fabulous work...and the artwork is FANTASTIC

Here area few of my paintings...

"the field"

"sleep in Seattle"

"squared"

"still life-still"

"the bark of the birch"

"jetlag from China"

Hopefully my paintings will never be "the end"! I have so many ideas...I could paint forever!

Swine flu update:

To avoid getting the swine flu my girlfriend's tip is: "Don't do this!"

Thought I'd worry about catching the swine flu when..."pigs fly". Wait, I guess the "swine flu"! Oh oh.

40 years in Holland

If you've linked to this blog through http://www.davidkoblish.org/ Welcome. We wanted to set up a blog to give you a more intimate view of our lives and the music ministry God has placed us in through "Under His Wings". This is my first time blogging and it's really fun. It gives me a chance to share some of the pictures that I love taking. So I hope you come back often!



Once upon a time....a Dutch boy and a Dutch girl left Holland to settle in America.
They were my Dad's father and mother.

To celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary, David and I spent 4 wonderful days exploring this quaint, quirky, little country.

Bikes are everywhere in Holland and they have the right of way too! I would often hear the bike bells ringing...warning me to "GET OUT OF THEIR WAY".

After spending a couple of days enjoying the sights around Amsterdam...walking, sipping coffee, avoiding the bikers, shopping and eating at our favorite "Pannekoeken" restaurant (it's right next to Anne Frank's house and they know us by now!), we rented a car to search out the area and find the town where my grandfather and grandmother came from.

The little village my grandparents came from is just outside of the town of Wolvega. This is the Wolvega train depot and I wonder if this is the station where my grandparents left for the "New World"?



Sonnega (the "g" sounds like you have something stuck in your throat!) is the name of my grandparents village. Their farm is long gone now... just like they are, but it was great to see the area where they lived. I wonder what they would think if they knew that generations down the line their grandchildren and greatgrandchildren were still coming back to this homeplace trying to connect with their roots?

I searched the graveyards, looking for my great-grandfathers grave...no luck. I did come across a gravestone with the last name of "Krediet" on it. ( my maiden name)... could it possibly be a relative?

The graveyards were beautiful, but we were there around dusk which made them a little spooky too! Many of the graves were so old I couldn't make out who the stone was for. I was a little disappointed at first because I was almost certain that one particular family owned the whole cemetery. I saw their name on the top of every tombstone. I assumed their "family" name was "Rustplaats". David finally pointed out that "Rustplaats" is the Dutch word for "Resting Place" Oooops...

I noticed that the neat and tidy little paths around the cemetery were filled with white sand and shells. I remember a story about my grandmother scattering white sand around the floors in her house. This is an old Dutch tradition. Sometimes the Dutch women would make beautiful designs in the sand with the handle of their broomstick. At the end of the week, the women would sweep up the sand and scrub and clean the floors until they were spotless. Then they would sprinkle the floor once again with fresh, white sand. I picked up a few of the shells off the path to bring home as a remembrance.

While we were in Holland they were having major rains so we never went anywhere without our umbrellas. This little cemetery had been doused with rain for weeks and weeks and the ground was very soggy. As I was standing over the gravestones, the ground began to sink and all of a sudden my imagination kicked in and I could just feel an old, crooked, bony, decayed hand reaching up through the soil to grab my leg. That was enough for me...I told David...we're outta there!

We found this old church in Sonnega and I wondered if this was the church where my grandparents worshiped? The churches in Holland are so magnificent. The only problem is that no one is around and they're all locked up tight.









David loves to go through old churches wherever we are and there's nothing better than to sit in the pew in an old sanctuary and listen as David belts out a beautiful, sacred hymn. It's a touch of heaven!!!!!




There isn't an end to this story yet...or should I say "too yet". We want to go back to Holland very soon. We fell in love with our homeland. We fell in love with the people. So many of them look like me and so the connection was instant. The only thing we don't want to do is to go back until after July. After watching our money and scrimping and saving because the dollar is so bad against the euro, we found out that the airport tax to get out of the country was over $200.00 for the two of us. Many people are flying out of other airports in Belgium and Germany to get around this tax. This has impacted the Amsterdam airport. We heard that the airport is planning on doing away with the airport tax after July...so anytime after July...I highly recommend a visit to this delightful, windy and windmill filled country!


vaarwel